Shadows within Time
by Sgt. Nolisten
Summary: After a tramatizing event, Naruto is sent to the age of the dinosaurs. Will Littlefoot and the gang be able to bring him back by giving something he always wanted? Shippuden, slight AU
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Lawyers! You see this here site? This is holly ground so begone fowl demons and your sue papers for neither this site nor me own Land Before Time or Naruto!!!**

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He had to get away.

That was all he thought about.

He had to get away from his home.

Uzumaki Naruto, age 16, container of the Kyuubi no Yoko, perfecter of the Rasengan, Master of the Toad Sage Arts, killer of Pain, the list could go on, was in a state of depression that those who knew him thought to have been impossible. Well, after all that's happened in the recent week would do that to you. **(Allow me to reiterate for you)**

The start of this depression began when he had learned of Ero… no, he just couldn't disrespect him like that anymore… when he learned of Jiraiya-sensei's death. That bit of news had hit him hard and in so, began Naruto's downward spiral. Sure, through the efforts of Nara Shikamaru he had been brought back to a certain level of stability, but in his heart, his sadness still reigned.

Next along the long line of blows was when he learned that while he was away training, his home village was being invaded by Akatsuki, a group out for his own head. Sure, the guilt didn't set in till everything was said and done, but it was still one of the majors.

Second largest in depression causing factors was when he had learned that Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage, the Ultimate Hero of Konoha, the one who had sealed the Kyuubi in him, and ironically his biggest idol, was his father. Now this would cause those with ideals that the truly good could do no wrong to think that Naruto, always the optimist in any situation, to be ecstatic about it. While others with more realistic knowledge of the human mind would think that it would put Naruto in an even more desolated state than the one that was caused by an event that had happened not even five minutes ago.

But more on that later.

If the two groups were walking down a road that symbolized what they thought would happen, the "good=perfect" group would take a wrong turn onto "FUCK NO" drive, while the "human-realism" group would take a wrong turn onto "Closest to right" avenue.

The correct emotion that was mixed in with his depression would cause others to fear that he would become a danger, whether to himself or others depends. What was the emotion?

Rage.

There were just too many links to this information for him NOT to be pissed about. First off, God knows how many people who were close to him knew about this bit of information AND NEVER TOLD HIM!!! Second, he dared to smile at him and talk with him like he was still his father when he gave that up the moment he chose the village over family. Lastly, and most insulting of all, HE WAS STOPPING HIM FROM GETTING HIS THRICE DAMNED REVENGE ON PAIN!!! If it wasn't for the fact that he had done as Naruto asked him to do before returning to the stomach of Death, Naruto would have obliterated the blonde Hokage, impossibilities and natural laws be damned.

And lastly…

Lastly…

Last of all the factors that had put him in the ultimate emotionally destroyed state he was in now, was the worst of all the hits that he had taken in such a short amount of time…

Was the death of Hyuuga Hinata… **(I KNOW HOW THIS LOOKS BUT PLEASE LISTEN!!! NOT ALL THINGS ARE AS THEY SEEM!!!)**

She, who he had labeled as weird because she acted so differently than the rest of the females he had met by not being loud, not chasing Sasuke, not hitting him when he was nearby, and was even concerned for him when he went out of character, stood up to an opponent that had turned Konoha into a crater single-handedly, and said with absolute conviction that she loved him.

When he saw Pain kill Hinata like he did, he reached a level of fury that no being, whether mortal, demonic, celestial **(angels)**, or god, had ever reached. All beings in the Elemental world had fallen to the ground from the pressure of his rage. Universes that were countless distances away, or even in different dimensions altogether, stopped all activity in the wake of his anger, or were at least affected by it. Gods of all occupations and power paled from the feel of it. And in the epicenter of both the wave and the cause, even Kyuubi, if he had a body to do so, would be shitting himself from the fear… and that's just an understatement.

Eight tails. That was how high he had gotten to when Minato had stopped him.

Personally, he didn't care if the village was attacked by the fox again should he release the seal, just as long as Pain DIED!!! He could have pissed on Konoha's ashes happily for all he cared.

What he didn't know though, was the fact that Kyuubi would have gleefully stayed in his one bedroom, one pond **(same room) **cage for the rest of eternity because he felt that it was the only place in all of existence that Naruto would never enter, willingly or not.

So, with the need for revenge still in his very being, Naruto had the Fourth change the seal so that he could use up to eight tails whenever he willed it, not once needing to ask the fox for that much ever again.

Using this change, he decimated Pain's 6th body, before tracking down and annihilating the original body and Konan, leaving him where he was now, running from Konoha for the desolate corners of the planet only two days later.

He was passing a cave mouth on a mountain in Demon Country **(don't give me crap about this, he's using the Kyuubi's energy to run so far)** when he felt it. A sort of "chilling power" seemed to perveate the air around it. He probably would have passed it off as something weird in a sense that he's never felt something like this before, and continued on his destination-less journey, but something… something urged him to investigate further.** (*Guilty*:D)**

He entered the cave and walked the dark tunnel, the glow of his one tailed form guiding his footsteps.

It was like this until he came upon a cavern with a small hole to the outside letting light in. It was an average cavern with a dirt brown floor, light brown rock walls… and an unusually large dark blue boulder sitting in the middle of both the room and the beam of light.

Every sense in his body told him that this was the source of the chilling power, that he should run from it because if he didn't, terrible things would likely happen, but he ignored them, instead stepping closer to it. He kept getting closer and closer to it. Taking slow steps as if he feared that something bad would happen. But nothing did…

Until he tried to touch it with a still "cloaked" hand.

His cloak started to… flicker, if you would. The "power" seemed to grow in intensity as the stone began to lighten in color. His cloak suddenly began to be sucked into the rock as he looked on fearfully, backing up quickly. His back hit the wall, and so all he could do now was watch.

Watch as the stone continued to grow lighter in color.

Watch as the remaining Yokai energy was sucked into the stone.

Watch as the stone began to produce, believe it or not, _cold fire_!

Watch… as the room suddenly exploded into white.


	2. Chapter 2

NarutoLBT cross chapter 2

**Disclaimer: ... What? I'm not doing it again... Oh fine. I don't own Naruto or Land Before Time. Now call off your damn tics people! Oops, I mean lawyers.**

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**AN: Hello people! Iiiii'm BAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!! (_Independance Day_, awsome movie there). It's been about a week and I finished another chapter in record time. However, I'm going to take this story slow compared to other fanfics I've done (that won't be published on FF. net due to suckicity), so don't expect these rapid updates. Other stories of mine have been neglected for so long now, but it's going to have to stay this way since I've lost the writers edge for them. So, for those of you who are following them I'M SORRYYYYYYY!!!**

**That's all for now.**

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Naruto slowly awoke from the darkness. As sight returned to him, he looked around in confusion.

'Where… the hell am I?'

He laid next to a decaying forest full of bramble and thorny vines, next to that was a sort of muddy, bubbling pond, but none of that was truly weird **(weird yes, but not extreamly weird)** part. What was truly weird was that the plants, the land, the very air itself, in a way, felt…

…Primitive…

There was just no way to explain it besides just that. The air just felt so clean, pure, and… "untamed" somehow. The earth just didn't seem to have been treaded by anything other than the local wildlife. And the water, though muddy, wasn't tainted by human pollution. But something felt wrong. Something felt like it was missing…

…

It was a mystery he'd have to solve later. He nodded to himself at the thought and started walking, intending to explore this new world he was in.

And so it starts for Naruto's spiritual revival.

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It had been a few hours since Naruto began his exploration. He had checked a few areas around his "landing point", as he began to call it, and the only interesting point he had visited was that decaying forest. Intersting, because it was the only place that anything out of the ordinary happened.

It still stung in the area where a thorned vine literally whipped his ass.

Momentarilly pausing to rub his rump at the thought, he continued his climb over the hill. Night was falling soon and he had noticed a clearing over this hill that would make a good camping point. After a good while he finally reached the top of the hill and rested for a few seconds.

…What? It was a freaking tall and steep hill!

Catching his breath once more he crawled over to the other edge to begin climbing back down, but he stopped, his eyes widening in absolute shock.

Other creatures had taken refuge in the same clearing he had explored not two hours ago. There were four in all, one a lot smaller than the others ('obviously a child', he thought), one much larger than the first but had similar colors and patterns ('possibly a parent', he thought once more with a small single twitch), and the final two were extreamly wrinkly compared to the others but still had similar patterns ('grandparents, if the wrinkles mean the same as they do with humans').

His shock was not caused by their sudden appearance though, it was their appearance in general.

Four legs.

Scales.

Long necks.

Extreamly long tails.

He had never seen nor heard of creatures like them before, but he didn't think they directly posed a threat to him as he watched them eat what edible foliage they could. It was mostly the little one that ate the leaves though, as the big ones just chewed on some tree branches to get whatever water they could from them **(an actual survival strategy, might not taste good, but you live a little bit longer)**. But their appearance was still a small shock compared to their size.

Simply put? They were freaking huge.

Not Gamabunta size of course, but large enough to reach some of the higher branches in the Forest of Death. Even the little one's main body reached about mid thigh, while its head reached to about his chest.

Maybe he should leave and find a different spot to bunk for the night. He may have established that they weren't carnivors, but he didn't know anything about them.

How fast were they?

Were there any more nearby?

Would they attack what they don't know?

Do they even speak?

He was contemplating whether he should leave or subtley announce his presence to gauge their reactions when the sound of cracking reached his ears. He looked down at the rock platform he was on and saw cracks spider-web from where he sat. One crack made it to the edge while another one inched its way to the opposite side. It reached the edge and a single pebble popped from the meeting point.

Naruto saw all this and calmly, almost emotionlessly, said a single word.

"Shit."

Both he and a multitude of other small rocks rolled down the hill. Ten seconds of bumps, bruises, cuts, scrapes, and absolute hell for his body later, he reached bottom and just laid there waiting for the rocks to stop pelting his back.

Feeling the lull, Naruto groaned as he started to pick himself up. Standing up, he patted the dust off of him, only to stop when the sound of a single, deep, threatening hiss reached his ears.

He looked up at where the creatures were before he fell, only to find the three adults in a line staring at him with their tails raised in warning. The young one was looking from behind his parents back right leg, his eyesholding both curiosity and fear at Naruto's sudden appearance.

The parent hissed once again, drawing his attention back to it. The near murderous glare caused him to raise his palms up as a placating gesture with an extreamly nervous grin on his face.

The mission?

Operation: Subtle Announcement.

Mission status?

REALLY fucked up.


	3. Chapter 3

**Shadows In Time Chapter 3**

He was doing it again.

He didn't like it.

He didn't like it because it always meant that something was going wrong with his life or with the life or someone he cared for.

He was running once more.

He and Littlefoot ran side by side through the landscape, changed dramatically by the earthquake, in the dark of the night under a stormy sky as they looked for the youth's mother. Bad signs. Very bad signs.

It was funny. So many things have gone wrong in his life that should have caused him to become something along the lines of the old Garaa, but it didn't, he came out on top.

But even he had to admit that he didn't do so without his sanity and mentality taking a beating.

However, after hardship, every trail, every beating his spiritual side took, he has experienced something that he gave away freely on several occasions: Unquestioned acceptance. And it was even given by the one right next to him.

*Flashback*

He watched the four creatures as they continued to stare at him. The grandparents watched with cautious distrust. The parents glared with open hostility. The child… The child was the only one lacking a hostile emotion in its eyes, fear having been replaced long ago with pure curiosity.

Going out on a limb, he tried to negotiate and gentry said, "Easy… I'm sorry for startling you but I was climbing this hill to get over here and ended up standing on a ledge to long. I was just hoping to sleep here for the night."

The adults looked extremely surprised at his sudden speech but the parent regained its sense and hissed one more time.

He nodded slowly, "Alright… I'll leave." He turned to leave until a child's voice stopped him with a question.

"Hey, what's wrong with your eyes?"

Naruto turned slowly in surprise. The young one had moved from behind its parents back leg and was instead standing a little bit in front of the adult, curiosity shining brighter than ever from its eyes. If the adults reaction to their young ones bold action, they were just as shocked as he was.

Naruto gathered his wits about him quickly and realized what it had asked. Confusion grew. "Huh? My eyes? What do you mean?"

It stepped forward a little more. "Why do your eyes look so dark but so warm? Mother has the same eyes but Grandma and Grandpa don't, so why do you have them?"

Naruto's eyes misted over in understanding and sadness. "I have them because… I lost many important things to me recently…"

It walked closer again. Close enough that if Naruto just reached out he could touch it. The parent said "Littlefoot!" in warning but the child ignored it, continuing to just stare at him.

"What did you lose?" The child's question was bathed in the innocence that only a child can have.

Naruto looked up to the sky, a single tear in the corner of his eye. "I… I lost…"

"I lost my home…" "Konoha."

"I lost my friends…" "Sakura… Kiba… Sasuke… Ino… Shikamaru… Chouji… Shino… Tenten… Neji… Lee…"

"I lost my family…" "Tsunade-oka-san… Jiralya-jii-san… Shizune-nil-chan… Iruka-otou-san…"

"And I lost… lost…" **(1)** He paused, unable to continue. Silent tears crawling down his cheeks as he absently stared at the sky.

The child, seeing the tears but understanding neither them nor the long pause asked, "And you lost what?"

Naruto blinked his eyes as he was brought back down to Earth before wiping them off on his sleeve. Lowering it again, he smiled his broad, but fake, grin as he answered, "Ah, it's nothing you should concerns yourself with."

The child looked confused, then thoughtful before finally looking like he had the greatest idea since sliced bread. "Hey. You said you lost your heard right? Why don't you join ours?"

Naruto's eyes widened in surprise and he literally stumbled a little where he stood. "What? Wait a second. I don't think your mom would…" He paused as he looked up towards said adult, only to see that those eyes had changed from the protective, hate-filled glared to a dark, but warm look that felt familiar somehow. The he realized that it was the look that the child described was in his eyes.

The adult spoke, "Had not my son pointed it out, I would have never noticed that look in your eyes myself. It speaks of pain and heartbreak, and it is a look that cannot be faked so your words speak truth. So I welcome you to our heard, little one." She finished with a small smile. Naruto returned it with a small, real one of his own as the child giggled and hopped a little in place.

Then the child stopped and extended its tail, intending to repeat a greeting ritual he once witnessed between two buck-billed swimmers once. "Hello, my name is Littlefoot, a longneck!" he stated, smile never leaving.

Naruto's smile grew a little wider as he reached for the extended tail. "And I'm Naruto, a human." He grabbed the tail's end and they both gave a shake.

*Flashback end*

Both of them continued to run, looking for the one woman who has been, or has become someone precious in their lives. The wounds she received from her titanic fight with Sharptooth really worried Naruto, but he had no knowledge about their anatomy, so he hoped they weren't life threatening.

He stopped and cupped his hands over his mouth as he shouted, "Ma'am are you out there!?!" He realized that he had never gotten her name.

Littlefoot stopped as well and shouted, "Mother! " They stood still, listening for a reply. Not hearing any, they looked at each other in worry. Naruto was the first to speak.

"Okay… Here is what we do. You go that way and I will go this way. We keep looking for her but if we can't hear each other we come back here and wait for the other," he said. For the thousandth time wishing that he could use that kage bunshin technique.

One of the things he has learned about this work, as explained to him by his resident plushie, was the fact that the world wasn't "conditioned" with chakra, so no element manipulating jutsu like Grand Fireball and shadow clones are out. How is shadow clone an elemental technique? Let me ask you this: Why is there no wind clone technique?

The answer? Shadow clones are _solid air_.

Littlefoot nodded at the plan and ran off in the direction that Naruto pointed out. Naruto had to admit that he was taking the situation really well.

Shaking his head, he started searching in the direction he pointed out for himself.

A few moments passed as he searched, hearing Littlefoot call out a couple of times. He was about to look behind another mound of rocks when he heard Littlefoot call out in desperation, "NARUTO!!!"

No Thoughts crossed his mind after that, he just booked it in Littlefoot's direction.

Dread filled Naruto's heart. Nothing good _**ever**_ came from a call like that.

***

"Mother!" Littlefoot blinked the rain out from his eyes, and scanned the dark area around him."Mother!"He called again; pausing for a few seconds. Littlefoot looked to the ground before him. There was a ledge about a foot wide that ledge further into the area where Littlefoot had seen his mother fall. To get over it, however, he would have to jump, but for a dinosaur of his size, it would be no easy task. Littlefoot braced himself, and made the jump. He made it partially onto the ledge, but he slipped due to the slick surface. After a few seconds of struggling, Littlefoot hauled himself up onto the ledge and sighed. Hopefully, there wouldn't be any more jumps like this.

"Mother? Where are you?"Littlefoot yelled again, and was rewarded with noise. He whipped around, and found his mother lying on her side on top of a rock ledge. He raced down the rocky slope toward the giant Apatosaurus, screaming out "NARUTO!!!" He slid down beside her head.

"Mother?"Littlefoot said, making her open her eyes a bit and gasping in pain."Please get up."

"I'm..."She said, shifting her leg to stand."Not sure I can, Littlefoot."

"Yes, you can. Get up."Littlefoot pleaded, watching his mother get about halfway to her feet. The muscles in her legs strained with effort, but she collapsed again, crumbing the ledge under her. Her head lay near a tiny river trickling down to parts unknown. Littlefoot lay on the other side of it, with a look of sorrow on his face.

"Dear, sweet Littlefoot..."His mother said, opening her eyes a bit."Do you remember the way to the Great Valley?"Littlefoot sniffed, trying to keep the tears that were threatening to fall under control. It was at this time that Naruto came dashing up to them. He stared at the scene as it played out, knowing that there was nothing he could do.

"I guess so...but why do _I _have to know, you're gonna be with me."He said.

His mother chuckled a bit as a warm smile graced her features."I'll be with you. Even if you can't see me." Littlefoot was puzzled.

"What do you mean if I can't see you?"He asked, hearing his mother's breathing become more labored."I can always see you."

She sighed, and shifted her head."Littlefoot, let your heart guide you."She said softly." It whispers. So listen closely."Littlefoot nodded, and waited for his mother to make another attempt to get up. She was still.

"Mother?"He said hesitantly."Mother?"Again, she did not stir. A small realization came to Littlefoot at that moment. His mother, who had loved and cared for him, provided as much food as she could in this barren land, and protected him and Cera from the ferocious Sharptooth...was gone.

Naruto watched Littlefoot.

Watched as tears fell down his cheeks, visible even in the heavy rains.

Watched as his breath started to slowly become shorter and more rapid.

Watched his eyes become darker and darker as his world and innocence disintegrated.

Watched… as Littlefoot became another Naruto.

Naruto just walked over to Littlefoot and did something he wished someone had done for him when his life shattered and scattered with the wind. He knelt down and just hugged the little longneck close to him.

Littlefoot didn't question it, he just draped his neck over the blonde's shoulder and continued to cry.

*******

**Chapter end**

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**FOOTNOTES:**

**(1) If you don't know who I'm referring to, check the list of village native friends I gave for the one I didn't add. I didn't add the sensei or the Ichiraku family because I just didn't want to.**

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:**

**IIIIIIII'MMMMMM BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!! And guess what? Tomorrow is a day that's very important to me. Can you guess what it is? No? Well, it starts with a B and end's with a 'day'. Can you guess it now? THHHHAAAAT'S RIGHT!!! IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!! It sucks though, because of where I live, I can't go through the male's right of passage on my 18****th**** birthday by getting legally plastered (or go to a gentleman's club, but I can wait on that).**

**So I decided to give you all a gift on this fine day via another chapter, but don't get your hopes up for Christmas. While still a good possibility, I don't know if I'll be able to get one out since my family and me are going to Huston Texas this Friday.**

**Anyways, ON TO THE DEPRESSING INFO!**

**Littlefoot's mom's death scene was used with permission by Mukai-sama. If you'll notice, not much was changed from his original version, so all of you should thank him for not forcing me to do it myself, inso causing me to delay this chapter further.**

**That's all for now.**

**Sarge, out.**


	4. AN: Happy Holidays

Hey everyone! Sorry, but I wasn't able to write another chapter for you guys, but I still wanted to wish everyone a merry Christmas and a happy holidays from me to you! I'll see you when I next post so, later!


	5. On a Roll

_**APRIL FOOLS!!!**_

We're no strangers to love  
You know the rules and so do I  
A full commitment's what I'm thinking of  
You wouldn't get this from any other guy  
I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling  
Gotta make you understand

Never gonna give you up,  
Never gonna let you down,  
Never gonna run around and desert you,  
Never gonna make you cry,  
Never gonna say goodbye,  
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

We've known each other for so long  
Your heart's been aching but you're too shy to say it  
Inside we both know what's been going on  
We know the game and we're gonna play it  
And if you ask me how I'm feeling  
Don't tell me you're too blind to see

Never gonna give you up,  
Never gonna let you down,  
Never gonna run around and desert you,  
Never gonna make you cry,  
Never gonna say goodbye,  
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

(Ooh give you up)  
(Ooh give you up)  
(Ooh) never gonna give, never gonna give  
(give you up)  
(Ooh) never gonna give, never gonna give  
(give you up)

We've known each other for so long  
Your heart's been aching but you're too shy to say it  
Inside we both know what's been going on  
We know the game and we're gonna play it

I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling  
Gotta make you understand

Never gonna give you up,  
Never gonna let you down,  
Never gonna run around and desert you,  
Never gonna make you cry,  
Never gonna say goodbye,  
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

_**Don't hate, me. I couldn't resist. The chapter is still being worked on. I'm just having a difficult time trying to figure out how to end the whole thing. But when I have it completed, I'll release it. Till then. Later and happy April Fools!**_


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